I think I'm gonna have a mental breakdown right now. My entire manuscript went missing POOF! And my memory span is only slightly longer than a goldfish's. Well there's nothing like starting over . . . here goes the beginning of the 'free-hand'

Innocent Atrocities

Chapter 10

By Gin van Geovanni

/// KaibaCorp Computer Lab #06 ///

Amelda sat up in his seat. He groaned "What happened . . . I know I told Seto that I'd explain anything he missed, but I'm not sure I can . . ." He removed his M2D and stood up. He crossed into a larger part of the lab. Seto sat in front of one of the computer screens; he stared at it intently with his hands crossed beneath his chin. The screen had nothing displayed on it except for two blinking red dots. Amelda seated himself next to Seto. "I guess that forced logout worked. I know I didn't log out on my own."

"You fell unconscious shortly after. Are you all right?" Even though he did not look Amelda in the eye, the worry in Seto's eyes was quite evident, and it was not aimed at the screen.

". . . Um . . . yeah . . . yeah I am . . ." Amelda scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

All of a sudden Mokuba entered the room. "Why were we all suddenly ejected from the game, Seto?" He inquired. "Did something happen in the maze?

Seto's expression returned to the composed, calculating look he had before Amelda entered the room. He turned back to the screen. "Yes, but I did not expect it to affect the entire area . . ."

"Wait, so you just forced everyone out of the game because you were paranoid?"

"Yes, I had a bad feeling about what was going on before I left."

"Good thing too, there was some seriously odd stuff going on, and all of it happened in a few seconds!" Amelda added.

"What happened?"

"Well, after you logged out, Kite's arm turned black, Haseo grabbed him, and then . . . I think they vanished . . ." Amelda looked slightly confused. "Although I'm not sure considering I lost consciousness."

Seto shook his head. "They may have vanished; in fact, they may not be in the World at all."

"What? How do you know?"

Seto nodded in the direction of the screen. "Their headsets are synchronized with one another therefore whatever happens to one affects the other."

"That's why Haseo heard the same sound as Kite, their headsets are connected . . ." Amelda said under his breath.

"They are also fitted with trackers, that way if Kite ended up in another location by accident, it would still be possible to find him. That would be the case if he ended up in another part of the World or even another virtual world. The set would stop working if he were in the real world; however if that was the case he would either end up in this lab or Haseo's room."

"Judging by the screen it's safe to say that the former happened." Amelda said.

Seto nodded. "It is also safe to say that Haseo is with him, or at least in the same place."

" . . . Then why is the rest of the screen black?" Mokuba inquired. "There's a map for every possible layout in this lab, but nothing is actually showing their location."

"You have a point, Mokuba; this lab does show every possible map layout you can think of. However, this only shows the maps in the World."

"So that black screen means that . . . They aren't in the World at all!" Amelda concluded.

/// Lyoko: Desert Sector ///

Haseo sat up and massaged his forehead. ". . . Oh . . . where am I . . .?" He squinted under the sun's light. He could see nothing but the sand ahead. "Am I . . . still in the World . . .?" As he sat up, he realized that someone was missing. "Kite!" He shouted. "Where are you?! "His voice echoed into the distance then was carried off into the wind. He jumped up and shouted Azure Kite's name again, and then he heard a faint groan. "Kite?!" He turned around to see the knight on the ground. He was covered in scratches and cuts. There was a thick black ring around his right wrist and a strange, dark fluid dripped from the corner of his mouth. Haseo wiped the fluid away. "Hey, hey, HEY, get up; I know you can hear me!" Haseo shouted at Azure Kite because he was unsure of where to touch him.

Azure Kite groaned again and opened his eyes slowly.

"Kite, you're awake!" Haseo could not help but smile. His expression became concerned. "C-can you move?"

Azure Kite shook his head slowly.

"I see . . . then I'll carry you." Haseo replied in a no-nonsense tone.

Azure Kite's eyes widened and shook his head weakly. Despite what he replied earlier he forced himself to pull his legs closer to his body.

"I'll have none of that!" Haseo hoisted Azure Kite up onto his back. "Besides, I already saw that lacey display." The moment he said this he could feel the heat coming from Azure Kite's cheeks. He laughed lightly. "Calm down, I feel flattered that you'd dress up so far for me."

Azure Kite wrapped his arms around Haseo's neck –so he would not slip off- and buried his face into his hair. "Shut up . . ." He muttered. "Stupid Haseo . . ."

Haseo froze. He almost dropped the knight.

"What's wrong?"

"Kite . . . you're . . . talking . . . How are you able to talk?"

"Oh, I've been practicing for a while now. I didn't want to actually say anything until I was sure I could do it."

"I have to admit that I'm impressed." Haseo began to walk. "You sound really good! I'll admit your pitch is a little strange, but that could be the pitch of your voice. Despite that you enunciate quite well; hell you speak better than some of my classmates, and you've been practicing for how long?"

"A few months give or take . . . I just wanted to be able to communicate on the same level as you . . ."

"Aw Kite, you didn't have to do that I was just fine with the way we communicate."

"I know, but I wasn't . . . I really wanted to be able to talk to you."

"I understand." Haseo smiled. "What tempted you to open your mouth now?"

"I was forced to. For some reason I can't text you here."

"Oh . . . wait a minute . . . that either means that The World is malfunctioning or we aren't in The World at all."

"I'm thinking that the latter happened, I don't recognize this place at all."

"How did that happen?"

"Isn't it obvious? It was that weird thing that came out of the control panel."

"I didn't see that; I just heard the noise it caused."

"It was a black cloud that's all."

'A black cloud . . .' Haseo thought and looked at Azure Kite's right wrist worriedly. "Do you think we'll see that one the behind it?"

"Only time will tell . . ." Azure Kite sighed. He looked down. "Haseo . . . I'm sorry for all of this . . ."

"Huh, how is any of this your fault?"

"I just think that my liking you is a problem . . . It just gets you in trouble . . ."

"Well, it gets you into a lot of trouble too, hell, I always thought that I was causing you trouble. Think about it, how many times have you either gotten hurt or killed over my idiocy?"

"I don't know I stopped counting." The knight chuckled.

"Hey! You're supposed to make feel better!" Haseo laughed as well.

"I can hear you laughing, Haseo, so you're obviously felling slightly better."

"Hey, don't get snippy with me! I'll drop you!"

"No you wouldn't!"

"Hmm, I guess not, that would take too much thought."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing, Kite, I said nothing at all." Haseo grinned. "Oh look, there's a hill nearby!"

"You're tired already?"

". . . I can't help it; you're heavier than you look!"

"I see . . ."

When they reached the hill Azure Kite dropped down on an edge that jutted out of the side. Haseo took off his cape and ripped a part of it off he wrapped it around Azure Kite's wrist. Then he ripped more of it and wrapped it around the knight's other arm. "H-Haseo, you don't have to do that. I'll just heal on my own."

"I don't think so; you would've healed up by now, besides I'd do this even if you could heal."

"O-oh, I see . . .! What're you doing?!" He noticed the rogue unbuckling his boots.

"I'm checking for cuts on your legs . . ." Haseo pulled them halfway down. "Your very . . . pretty legs . . ."

"Stop that!"

Haseo ignored him. "Seriously, your legs are really smooth and slender, but you have a brutal kick. For someone so small, you pack a lot muscle! . . . I think that's why you're kinda heavy, muscle weighs more than fat . . . still . . ." The rogue flexed Azure Kite's leg. "Where do you put it all?"

". . ."

"Aw, c'mon, don't get mad . . ." Haseo pouted at Azure Kite. "I was just curious . . ."

"I'm not mad . . ."

"That's good . . . um . . . hey . . . Kite? I've got a couple of questions . . . if you don't mind answering them . . ."

"Sure . . . as long as I can have my leg back?"

". . . Fine . . ." Haseo buckled up Azure Kite's boots and let go of his leg. "Now that you can talk . . . Could you . . . say my name, y'know, my real name?" Haseo scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Of course I will!"

"Really? Well, then my name is . . . Ryou Misaki"

"R-Ryou?"

Haseo grinned widely. "Yeah, yeah that's right!"

"Um, your face is turning red Hase- I mean, Ryou. Why is that?"

"Oh, no reason . . ." Haseo looked in everywhere but into Azure Kite's eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive! I'll be honest, I've always been curious as to what your voice would sound like if you could talk. And now that I know . . ."

"You're . . . disappointed . . .?"

"How many times do I have to say it? I like your voice!"

"I see . . ."

"No, now that I know, and now that I know you like me . . . I can't believe it makes this harder for me to ask . . ."

"Ask, what is it that you want to ask me?"

"Well . . . I uh . . ." Haseo took a deep breath. "Kite," He stood up and held both of Azure Kite's hands. "When we get out of here, be it in the real world or the game, will you go out with me?"

Azure Kite looked up at Haseo. 'I've been hoping he'd ask me this for months, and now that I can actually verbally accept the words won't come . . .' He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a loud cough. He shook his head and tried again. "Y-yes, I want to."

Haseo sighed and collapsed back down to Azure Kite's eye level. "N-now what do we do? I'm completely out of meaningful things to say . . ."

"Well . . . you don't necessarily have to say anything . . ." Azure Kite blushed. "If you know what I mean . . ."

Haseo nodded and wrapped his arms around Azure Kite's neck. Then he noticed something. "Uh, Kite . . . what's that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It . . . looks like a . . . bowling ball, and it's rolling this way fast!"

Before Azure Kite could turn around, Haseo grabbed him and bolted.

"Oh, now I see it . . . hey! Don't carry me like this, it's embarrassing!"

"Complain later!" Haseo shouted.

"No really, put me down! You'll be able to run faster!"

"I'm not letting you run on your own!"

"I don't have to, remember?"

"Are you sure you can float in your condition?"

"Yes, now put me down!"

Haseo briefly looked worried then he nodded and slowed down enough to put the knight down without stopping. Azure Kite lifted his body about an inch off the ground and glided next to Haseo. Even then they could hear the sound of the ball-like object rolling behind them. "I could really use my scythe right about now!" Haseo huffed.

"Well, we don't have our weapons right now, so all can do is run!"

The rumbling that the ball created subsided. Haseo slid to a stop and turned around. 'What's it doing?' He thought. Azure Kite seemed to think the same thing.

The ball snapped open to the point where Haseo and Azure Kite could see the cables and wires that made up its innards. The wiring pulsated and flashed red. In the center of the wires was a symbol shaped like an eye. The symbol began to glow red.

This time it was Azure Kite who grabbed Haseo and jumped out of the way just before a beam of red light flashed over their heads. It sliced a few pillars ahead of them. Both PCs looked at each other wide-eyed and scrambled to their feet. "This is bad!" Azure Kite shouted. "What the hell did we do to deserve this?!"

"Less talking, more running!" Haseo hollered.

The sphere closed up then gave chase. It managed to corner them into a fissure. However, just as it snapped open what appeared to be an arrow pierced it in the 'eye' and it exploded into data fragments. Haseo leaned back against the wall then fell on his bottom. "I can't take this anymore . . ." He muttered. "I wanna go home . . ."

"That's kind of impossible right now, Ryou. Anyway, I think we should find out who just saved us . . . judging from where we're standing the shot could've only come from above."

Haseo tilted his head upwards. "Oh look . . . a giant purple cat."

"A . . . giant . . . purple . . . what?"Azure Kite looked up to see what looked like a 'giant purple cat' with spiked blond hair. He unraveled a long rope for them to climb up. Once at eye level, Haseo seemed to have lost his voice. Azure Kite spoke in his place. "Thanks a lot; you really saved our hides back there. My name's . . ." For a brief moment, Azure Kite hesitated; he was not the type of person to trust others easily, regardless of circumstance. Then he held out his hand. "My name's Kite; the silent one down here is Haseo. Sorry he seems to have lost his voice . . ."

"No problem and I'm glad I could be of help. The name's Odd." Odd shook hands with Azure Kite, although his hands looked more like a cat's paw with a thumb. His cheeks and forehead had purple markings on them and there was a purple diamond shaped mark in the front of his hair. A long tail protruded from the back of his outfit and swished back and forth. The excited manner of his tail's movements seemed to match the bright smile on his face. "Are you two new to Lyoko? I've never seen you here before."

'Lyoko? So that's the name of this place . . .' Azure Kite thought. "Yeah . . . well, we're not just new here; we just kinda . . . landed here. I don't know how it happened, but there you have it."

"I see . . . where did you come from?"

"We came from the online game, The World. I am an NPC there, and Haseo is a player. In case you were wondering, we were actually in the middle of a Halloween Event, hence, the outfits."

"Ooh . . . so you're a boy?"

"Yes he is, you got a problem with that?!" Haseo suddenly woke from his stupor.

'Geez, he's like a protective cat . . . he shows his claws when he thinks I'm in trouble.' Azure Kite sighed and put his hand on Haseo's head. "You can put your claws away now."

Odd gave the knight a look that seemed to ask. "I guess you two were on a date?"

Azure Kite petted Haseo's head and smiled in a way that said. "Something like that."

"Hey, Haseo, I didn't mean to offend, but I probably would've asked Kite out if he was a girl . . . and not taken."

Haseo snorted. "Good to know you have your priorities intact." He suddenly grinned. "So, where do we go from here?"

"Well," Odd scratched his head, obviously jarred by Haseo's sudden change in mood. "I could get Jeremy's opinion on this; he may have an idea or two."

"Who's that?" Haseo inquired.

"He's like our eyes outside of Lyoko; he generally knows what goes on inside and outside."

"That means that he can get in contact with people outside of Lyoko, right?" Azure Kite asked.

"He can; is there anyone you want him to get into contact with?"

"Well, can you see if he can contact a man named Amelda?"

"He said 'I'll see'. . ."

.Chapter 10// End

I'm doing my best to keep going, people actually seem to like this story, including me! That and I have several things I want to do with IA, so I'm trying to finish this before I move on. Sound good?